Whew! What a whirlwind of a day! I hope you all had a magical time with family and loved ones. To those of you whom I didn’t have the opportunity to give a big bear hug — I was thinking of you!

Hubby and I started early by hosting breakfast for his mum, her husband and husband’s brother, plus hubby’s sister and husband. There was lots of delicious treats on the menu (if I do say so myself), but my personal favourite was the waffles with banana and rum caramel. The waffle recipe came with my waffle-iron, so I can’t share that with you, but you can find the banana and rum caramel recipe here. I also topped with a little pecan praline, for which I used this almond praline recipe, but substituted the almonds for pecan halves. When the toffee set, I whizzed in my mini food processor to get a rough sprinkle — it added a sweet nutty crunch! Oh and be warned — you will want to drizzle the rum caramel on EVERYTHING (goes well with fresh pineapple!), so feel free to double or triple the recipe quantities, and keep in a little jug in the fridge.

We then headed north to the country-side to visit hubby’s Nonno, Nonna and extended family for an Italian feast. But, no rest for the wicked, as we soon departed to have dinner with my immediate family. It was the traditional spread all the way, with roast pork and turkey, with apple sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy, and delicious golden roasted vegetables. Then, of course, a dessert of plum pudding and brandy custard followed.

We were spoiled not just with a plethora of food, but with gifts and laughter too. Among other treasures, Santa gave hubby and I a new kettle (our old one leaked water all over the bench, not ideal with electrical items), and I received a number of books — the fiction in the bunch being Brideshead Revisited, Love in the time of Cholera and Madame Bovary — lots of summer reading on the horizon! I will hopefully be able to cross those extra classics off my ‘to read’ list soon…

…oh dear. A new year ahead… any New Year’s Resolutions?…